Brooklyn Environmental Exploration School (bees), Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Brooklyn Environmental Exploration School (bees)

Brooklyn Environmental Exploration School is a small middle school serving grades six through eight in a dense, highly walkable neighborhood in central Brooklyn. The school operates within New York City Geographic District 23, a choice district with no zoned schools, giving all families equal access regardless of where they live.

The school enrolls a small cohort of students, with roughly similar counts in each grade. The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, and an exceptionally high share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the neighborhood's economic profile. Enrollment data on students with disabilities and English learners is not publicly available.

The school is embedded in Brooklyn's dense, transit-rich urban fabric rather than on a suburban campus. The immediate neighborhood has high walkability, with frequent subway access and retail-lined streets. Housing values in the zipcode have risen substantially, reflecting borough-wide development pressure, while rents have climbed as well. This growth reflects Brooklyn's role as a major development center citywide, with substantial new housing construction in progress across the borough.

Academic results on state testing are below the midpoint among the county's districts. In sixth-grade math and English language arts, roughly four in ten students test proficient or above. Seventh grade shows a modest gain, with about half of students proficient in math and nearly six in ten in English language arts. Eighth-grade English language arts performance drops significantly, with fewer than one in three students proficient. Science results for eighth grade show about four in ten students at proficiency. Math testing data for eighth grade is not available. Participation rates across assessments hover in the mid-to-high range, suggesting the school accounts for most of its enrolled population in testing.

The school's name signals an environmental focus, though specific program details, course offerings, and how that thematic orientation shapes daily instruction are not detailed in available data. The district has undergone curriculum changes at the elementary level through the statewide NYC Reads literacy mandate and is implementing NYC Solves math standardization, though these systemwide shifts do not directly define this school's middle-grade environment.

District 23 has experienced sustained enrollment decline over recent years. While the district offers choice across all schools rather than neighborhood zones, families should consider how enrollment trends may affect program stability and resource availability as decisions about school assignments are made. Parents may want to contact the school directly to discuss program specifics, teaching approach, environmental emphasis, and how recent district curriculum initiatives align with classroom practice at this particular school.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

New York Regents Exams

1 course reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Math	31	6.0%

Math

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 44% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 753%

School 53% · District 44% · ▲ 9 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 23% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 41% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 759%

School 59% · District 44% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 40% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Science

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 20% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #23, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.